1881 Queanbeyan colonial by-election
# 1881 Queanbeyan colonial by-election

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Queanbeyan on 27 January 1881. The election was triggered by the resignation of James Thompson, taking up the government position of Railway Land Valuator.

## Dates

| Date | Event |
| - | - |
| 11 January 1881 | James Thompson appointed to Legislative Council and Postmaster-General. |
| 12 January 1881 | Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. |
| 24 January 1881 | Nominations |
| 27 January 1881 | Polling day |
| 8 February 1881 | Return of writ |

## Candidates

* John Gale was the publisher of a local paper, The Queanbeyan Age.
* Percy Hodgkinson was a surveyor, land agent and auctioneer in Queanbeyan, who was an unsuccessful candidate at the 1880 election.
* Thomas Rutledge was a pastoralist who was an unsuccessful candidate at the 1877 election.

## Result

1881 Queanbeyan by-election Thursday 27 January :

| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - |
| Thomas Rutledge (elected) | Thomas Rutledge (elected) | 502 | 50.7 |
| Percy Hodgkinson | Percy Hodgkinson | 413 | 41.7 |
| John Gale | John Gale | 76 | 7.7 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 991 | 97.3 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 27 | 2.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 1,018 | 59.5 |
